Exhibits: Explore

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Age Recommender

To get some suggestions about the best exhibits for each age/grade click here.

Orlando Science Center's exhibit halls feature a vast array of exciting interactive experiences! Learning has never been so fun with these hands on educational exhibits. From down to earth explorations in natural science to the high-tech world of simulation technology, everywhere you look, you'll find educational and entertaining opportunities to explore, experiment, and discover.

Traveling Exhibits

The Orlando Science Center is home to some of the most exciting traveling exhibits in the country. When these exhibits are in town they are only here for a limited time, so don’t miss the opportunity to see them!

Exhibit Halls

As great as our traveling exhibits are, there are some exhibits that are the staple of the Orlando Science Center. NatureWorks will have you up close and personal with some of nature’s most fascinating reptiles. At DinoDigs, you’ll step back into the prehistoric age. Discover the dynamic forces and systems that shape our Earth, as well as other planets in Our Planet, Our Universe. Explore such concepts as electricity and magnetism, lasers, soundwaves, and nature’s forces in Science Park. No visit to the Science Center is complete without a trip to KidsTown, an interactive world dedicated to our smaller explorers.

Science Live! Programs

What’s the difference between a great visit to a Science Center and a memorable visit? Live programs. Our exhibits are designed to inspire curiosity and exploration, our Science Live! programs are designed to bring the exhibits to life. Whether it’s a show in the Digital Adventure Theater or a one-to-one interaction with a volunteer at the Crosby Observatory, our live programs create the kind of impact that can last a lifetime.

Science Stations

Looking for little more “hard science” in your next Science Center visit? Look no further than the Science Stations located throughout the facility. Science Stations are a cross between exhibits and live programs in that they’re exhibits that typically include a live program to truly bring the experience to life. Science Stations provide an in-depth look at their respective subject matter in an entertaining way. Be sure to check your program schedule to see which Science Stations are conducting demonstrations on the day of your next visit.

Crosby Observatory

The aluminum-domed Crosby Observatory atop Orlando Science Center houses Florida's largest publicly accessible refractor telescope. This one-of-a-kind custom-built telescope, along with several smaller scopes, are available at selected times for solar and night sky viewing.

NatureWorks staff and the exhibits department are in the process of renovating a portion of the former Trading Center. The new theme for the room will be - Adaptation Station. Animals housed in this exhibit will be chosen for their interesting adaptations such as camouflage, defense mechanisms, types of reproduction, and ways for finding and consuming food. The first phase of this renovation will be constructed soon and the following species are planned for exhibit.

Tentacled snake, Erpeton tentaculatum

This snake is found in Thailand, Cambodia and South Vietnam. It inhabits ponds and sluggish bodies of water with heavy vegetation and cover. They are fully aquatic and are so camouflaged they look like a submerged stick. They are unique among snakes in they have two scaly, projections on the tip of their nose. These are thought to be sensory in nature and allow them to sense the position of their fish prey in murky water. Their entire feeding mechanism is fascinating and more information will be coming soon.

The periodic table contains the 118 unique elements that are currently known to exist on the planet. You can find it proudly displayed in most high school chemistry classes and it is a tool that teachers encourage their students to use on tests. In his book, The Disappearing Spoon, Sam Kean examines each individual element that makes up the periodic table by revealing their unique stories and origins. Here are just a few elements that are pretty awesome:

Hydrogen (H) is one of the main elements that make up stars (and because it is highly reactive, we use it in balloons for KaBoom shows).

“Self-sterilizing” Copper (Cu) tubing is used in air-conditioning ducts because copper will disrupt the metabolism of certain bacteria and fungi.

Gallium (Ga) has a melting point of 84°F, which makes it one of the few metals that can melt in the palm of one’s hand. A popular practical joke among scientists was to take a Gallium spoon and give it to a colleague with a hot cup of tea, only to have it disappear.

Visit this link for additional information about The Disappearing Spoon.

If you love chemistry and want to experience some hands-on experiments, stop by Dr. Dare’s Laboratory on your next visit to the science center.

Red lionfish are beautiful fish that are becoming quite a problem for Florida. Lionfish are an invasive species to the Atlantic Ocean. An invasive species is an animal or plant that is introduced to a new habitat and negatively affects it. Florida has many invasive species due to its warm tropical climate.

In the case of the lionfish, they are destroying the local fish, shrimp, and crab populations by eating so many of them. Since lionfish have no natural enemy in the Atlantic Ocean, the lionfish population is exploding. Everyone has been trying to find a way to get rid of these pesky fish.

A Key Largo based REEF conservation organization has created a lionfish cookbook to create a demand for these fish to be caught and sold at fish markets. Their slogan is “Eat ‘em to Beat ‘em” and its true! The faster we remove these fish the sooner the local biodiversity can return to what it was before the troublesome lionfish came to town.

Want to try it for yourself? Check out www.reef.org to buy the cookbook. Hopefully we’ll be seeing some of these delicious recipes in our local restaurants too!

Misty is an Animal Care Technician at the Science Center and is found in NatureWorks. Animals and Ecology are her passions and she jumps at every opportunity to talk about it. Stop in and say Hello!

Written by Stephanie Kazmierzak-Esler
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28 December 2010 Posted in
NatureWorks

This just goes to show anyone can be a scientist, regardless of age. A class of 8-10 year olds was enlisted by Dr. Beau Lotto of LottoLabs in England to study bees. Dr. Lotto wanted a fresh look at old data but what he got was more than that; the kids had taken the assignment to heart and ended up uncovering new findings regarding how bees look for food and decide which flowers might have the most nectar.

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